More than 400 runners are expected to converge on Caliente in Pasco County for what has become the largest clothing-optional race in North America, an event that since 2012 has determined the National Championship of Nude Running.

Many runners have attended the Caliente Bare Dare 5K as a one-and-done, bucket-list race only to return again after enjoying the all-day, post-race party at Caliente, which features seven swimming pools, multiple bars, restaurant, and an upscale clubhouse. The race has drawn runners from an average of 25 states over the last three years. Though runners from all levels participate, the course-record times (15:49 male, 17:53 female) are comparable to those of much larger events.

Nude running in Central Florida began in 1993 when the Lake Como nudist resort, also in Pasco County, debuted the “Dare to Go Bare 5K.” Sabrina Vizzari, the club’s 20-year-old activities director at the time, wanted an event similar to those she had seen while living in Washington state.

The Lake Como event grew gradually and in 1998 drew more than 300 runners due to a marketing partnership with Tampa’s news radio 970 AM, which re-branded itself for the week leading up to the event as “Nude Radio 970.” The race attracts a smaller field these days (135 last year), but still boasts a scenic course on both asphalt and trails. This year’s event, the 25th annual, takes place on April 9.

Paradise Lakes, located adjacent to Lake Como along US 41 in Lutz, for years held a 5K the weekend before Thanksgiving. More recently, the clothing-optional resort has held occasional 5K races at various times of the year.

In 2011, the Cypress Cove nudist resort in Kissimmee launched the “Streak the Cove 5K,” which has attracted between 150 and 200 runners annually to the Orlando area resort. But it’s the Caliente Bare Dare 5K, which debuted a year earlier in 2010 that has become the signature event on the nude racing calendar.

By holding a clothing-optional race at the upscale Caliente Resort and marketing it to the mainstream running community, the Caliente Bare Dare 5K draws a larger crowd than typical nudist club races. Many runners have remarked that they’ve set personal 5K records by competing at Caliente, where the course takes runners on paths along lakes and through the resort’s upscale residential area. All but a 50-yard grassy section is on asphalt.

Unlike most running events, where runners depart shortly after the race or the awards ceremony, most runners stay all day since admission to Caliente is included with the race entry fee, making the event one of the best values in endurance sports. Last year, race organizers replaced the traditional race T-shirt with a 30×60 beach towel and plans to do so again this year.

Though photography and video is prohibited at the race for obvious privacy reasons, several journalists have participated in the event and written about their experiences.

Jessica Sebor, the editor of Women’s Running magazine, became the inaugural female winner of the National Championship of Nude Running in 2012 and wrote about the experience.

“I know it’s going to take more than one Sunday morning to cure my self-consciousness,” she wrote about running nude. “But running the Bare Dare did teach me this: If you don’t challenge yourself, you will never have the chance to be crowned a champion.”

Sebor was one of a record 229 finishers of the event and set a women’s course record with a time of 19:41. A new men’s record (16:25) also was established. Sebor received a glass trophy emblazoned with the Caliente Bare Dare 5K logo as well as the words “National Championship of Nude Running” and “Female Champion.”

LAND O’LAKES – The Caliente Bare Dare 5K, which has attracted runners from an average of 13 states in each of its first two years, will be the site of the inaugural National Championship of Nude Running on Sunday, September 30.

The race is held just north of Tampa in Land O’Lakes at Caliente Resort, the most upscale clothing-optional resort in North America. The one-loop course takes runners from the Caliente clubhouse through the scenic, well-manicured, 125-acre resort and back. Refreshments and awards are poolside and most runners spend the day at Caliente, which can attract more than 1,000 visitors on sunny weekend afternoons. Entry fee includes access to Caliente for the day.

Caliente, a destination resort in Pasco County with an 40-room hotel and dozens of condos, villas, and single-family homes, is a natural site for the event. The Caliente Bare Dare 5K, which debuted on Oct. 10, 2010 (10/10/10), has attracted an average of 200 runners in each of its first two years, with more than 80 percent running fully nude.

Thirty-eight percent of participants have been female, higher than the 35 percent rate for 5K events overall, and 61 percent have been 45 or younger. Seventy-eight percent of the field comes from beyond Pasco County, including 10 percent from out of state.

In its first two years, the Caliente Bare Dare 5Khas attracted runners from Canada and 17 states beyond Florida (Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas). This year’s registrants also include athletes from Arizona, Iowa, and New Jersey.

Caliente Resort, just north of Tampa

Also attracting top runners and triathletes from Florida, the USA Track & Field-certified Caliente Bare Dare 5Kfeatures a competitive field that has produced course-record times (16:51 male, 20:05 female) comparable to any 5K race. The male and female national champions will receive special awards for their accomplishments. Though running nude is not a requirement for the race, the national champions will be the first nude male and nude female finishers and will receive special awards for their accomplishments.

At a time when race entry fees have escalated rapidly in the endurance sports world, with some events now charging for parking and offering little in terms of free refreshments, the Caliente Bare Dare 5Kmight be the best value in the industry. The race entry fee also grants runners admission to Caliente for the day, along with post-race refreshments poolside, awards to the top 25 male and top 25 female finishers, and soft, fitted T-shirts uncluttered with sponsor logos on the back. Registrationis just $25 through August 24.

Though more than 200 runners were pre-registered and many more expected, gloomy weather kept the numbers from reaching the projected 300. Still, more than 75 percent of pre-registered runners attended and nearly everyone ran nude with the exception of shoes.

Like the inaugural 2010 race, nearly 40 percent of the field was female and the majority of runners under the age of 40. Prominent local triathletes and duathletes accounted for most of the top five finishers among both men and women. Both the male and female winners from 2010 returned and defended their titles, picking up gift certificates from Caliente good for free massages. (As always, race results are not posted in the interests of privacy.)

We’re just one week away from the second-annual Caliente Bare Dare 5Kand still well ahead of last year’s registration pace, when 200 runners participated. This year’s over-under is 300, which we believe would be a Florida record for a clothing-optional run.

The race takes place on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 8:30 a.m.

We’ve done a number of interviews with media outlets promoting the race. The most popular question is…why? Why do people run 3.1 miles wearing as little as shoes and sunscreen?

For starters, it’s a bucket-list thing. Competitor magazine recently listed “running a clothing-optional 5K” among its “runners bucket list.” But we’ve found it’s more than that since many runners have returned from last year. We can’t think of another race where runners hang around, no pun intended, the race venue for much of the rest of the day.

It’s also about bragging rights. Sure, you could do an Ironman, which perhaps not coincidentally has its signature event – Kona – the day before the Caliente Bare Dare 5K. You could do a marathon such as the Chicago Marathon, which takes place the same day as our event.

But hundreds of thousands of people have completed a marathon or Ironman. Not everyone can say they’ve done a clothing-optional race. We also find it telling that so many women enter the Caliente Bare Dare 5K. Like last year, this year’s field is about 40 percent female, which actually is greater than the 35 percent female rate of a typical 5K race. Women are more daring – and more likely to dare their girlfriends to do the race.

It’s also about Caliente. If your image of a clothing-optional resort is a rustic RV campground, you haven’t been to Caliente, with its massive 30,000 square-foot-clubhouse with multiple bars, restaurant, and a sprawling pool complex with six pools.

Though it might seem odd, we provide fitted, soft T-shirts for our race. We’re not sure what this T-shirt category is called, but they’ve become very popular. The top 25 male and top 25 female finishers each get commemorative mini-bottles of wine and we’ll again have refreshments and a post-race party poolside.

Online registration closes on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 11:59 p.m. That’s the last chance to register for $30. It’s $35 on race day and registration opens at 6:15 a.m. This race comes along just once a year. It will be your most memorable.

Here’s what I said in the story: “People get tired of pounding the asphalt running or staring at a black line in the pool or risking their life out on a bike. I think people are kind of tired of the paint-by-numbers training program. They want the unexpected.”

Last year’s inaugural Caliente Bare Dare 5K was one of the most talked about races in Central Florida, with nearly 200 runners venturing to the upscale clothing-optional resort just north of Tampa. Given the momentum we’ve built since then with the addition of last month’s Streak the Cove 5K at Cypress Cove in Kissimmee, we’re expecting a field of 300 to 350 this year.

Runners can wear as much or as little as they like, though most everyone opts for shoes and sunscreen. Your race entry gets you into Caliente for the day – itself a minimum $20 value. Pre-registered runners receive T-shirts without logos on the back – fitted cut for the ladies – and the top 25 male and top 25 female runners again will receive commemorative bottles of Caliente Bare Dare 5K wine.

The Streak the Cove 5K received a slew of publicity, including articles in Runner’s World and The Orlando Sentinel, along with numerous radio interviews. We’re expecting much of the same as media outlets continue to “uncover” what Competitor magazine recently called a must-do event on any runner’s bucket list.